12-10-2021, 03:24 PM
There's an argument to be made that trimming growth stocks will net a higher retirement return than living off of dividends, but psychologically I find it hard to sell beloved stocks myself, never mind on a down day. I still have over 10 years, but I've always assumed that when I retire, everything in my portfolio that doesn't yield at least 1.5% will go bye-bye in one big sell-off and get converted to dividend payers. I expect I will aim for a yield around 5%. That said, I'm in a learning process about what's a value stock, and what's a value trap stock. I think I've gotten into and out of AT&T 3-4 times in the past 2 years, and at this point I don't see myself going back. I'd much rather put my money into say RQI even though it is less well known, though admittedly an event like the 2007-2008 financial crisis scares me.